School Lunches

School lunches

Food and sharing food are an important part of what we do as a school. At St. Peter's we use a type of meal service called Family service. Family service ensures that the children sit together at the same time and share the same meal; children will sit at the same table every day and on their table will be children from different classes, a mixture of girls and boys and children of all races and religions sharing the same food. As a church school this is an important part of our Christian values.

In Nursery and Reception, every table is supported by an adult who works with the children to help them serve their food, encourages them to eat and helps them learn to assist with clearing up after their meal. In other classes Year 5 and 6 children serve the other children, but again all children help with clearing up after the meal.

The nature of family service means that there is not an extensive choice menu, but the menu, which is healthy and nutritionally balanced, is decided and occasionally changed by the School Council. We will, of course, cater for vegetarians, or dietary needs or allergies. We are also very happy to work with you and your child to make sure that they are able to eat the food on offer, but we are committed to working with you to help your child enjoy a wider range of foods.

In many schools children, even at Nursery age, simply queue up to have food dolloped onto 'airline' plates for them to carry to a table, eat and leave. If having service in this way is of fundamental importance to you, or your child, then there are many schools who provide it. We are committed to Family service as the way to provide school dinners. We feel eating is more than just 'refuelling' but should be an informal social situation where children work together, share responsibilities, and make new friends across the school. We are committed to working with you to make lunchtime better for your child, but at St. Peter's lunchtime will always be more to us than just food.

This way of arranging school lunches was part of our accreditation for the National Healthy Schools standard.

Paying for School Meals

Parents can now pay for school meals online using ParentPay. We can still accept cash or cheques (made payable to LCC) at the school office. Please do not put cash in your child's bag.

Please note: Payment for school meals should always be paid in advance